A New Player Has Entered The Fray

Did anyone have New England Patriots QB Drake Maye taking a big leap forward in his development this season? The Patriots have looked really good and Maye has been at the forefront of that success. He’s only thrown 2 interceptions through six games and already has 10 touchdown passes. He will easily pass his 15 touchdown passes in his rookie season last year. What’s been more impressive is that he put himself in discussion atop the quarterbacks this season by beating the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night in Week 5 and throwing 3 touchdown passes in New Orleans this last week. New England is tied with Buffalo for the division lead, but are the de facto leaders because of the tiebreaker with the Bills. There was a reason he was a top-5 pick in the 2024 draft and we are seeing it play out right now.

A Career Defining Moment

It was a third down and 12 yards to go for a first down. QB Baker Mayfield was under duress in the pocket and scrambled his way out of pressure by the 49ers defense. The coverage was good and he was being pursued from behind and had to make a snap decision. He decided to run and did so breaking tackles and juking his way for a 14-yard gain to get the first down himself. This was at a crucial moment of the game in which they were neck and neck with the San Francisco 49ers at home in a matchup of two 4-1 teams. Mayfield later threw a 45-yard dart to WR Tez Johnson who made a fantastic catch going into the end zone for the touchdown. Injuries were beginning to mount in the receiving corps, but that wasn’t a problem for Mayfield in this one. That run for a first down will be a defining moment for Mayfield this season and perhaps for his entire career.

They Were Getting Worse

The mistakes have been mounting for this franchise for quite some time now. Trading away WR A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles and not adequately replacing him was a big one. So was parting ways with RB Derrick Henry. The same can be said with former head coach Mike Vrabel being fired after the 2023 season. Hiring Brian Callahan to be their head coach going into the 2024 season was another mistake as they have fired him after starting this season 1-5. Their last game was another embarrassment as they lost to the Las Vegas Raiders 20-10. Yes, the Titans had just come off a week in which they won their first game of the season in comeback fashion, but that was in spite of the Arizona Cardinals doing some boneheaded plays. The Titans finished last season 3-14 and everything fell apart for them. It wouldn’t really have surprised anyone if they parted ways with Callahan then. This team was awful, but by seeing them select QB Cam Ward with the number one pick there was some optimism going into this season. That has quickly disappeared as Ward is regressing rapidly with a porous offensive line and receivers that have been doing him no favors at times by dropping passes. Ward has not looked comfortable with the speed in which the NFL goes and that is a detriment to Callahan. Chances are high that he won’t get another NFL head coaching job as a result of this tenure, but he will easily be an offensive coordinator once again somewhere I’m sure. This franchise is quickly becoming a joke and that starts at the top with ownership and the football operations. I’m looking forward to seeing how this could get worse when they have another top-3 pick in next year’s draft.